


in a world uncertain, say you'll be my stone

by ackermanx



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: F/M, entire mekakushi dan shows up tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-03 19:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12153459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackermanx/pseuds/ackermanx
Summary: the four times they were discovered, and the one time they didn't need to be(alternatively: let them be happy and enjoy life okay)





	in a world uncertain, say you'll be my stone

**Author's Note:**

> wow. okay. hi
> 
> first of all, I'd like to blame Sonnie for giving me the final push to get into kagepro for good, now I'm stuck in a vaguely dead fandom with six new children. this is fine
> 
> so uh expect more kagepro stuff from me in the future i guess. at least until i run out of ideas

I)

 

"Kiiidooo - "

 

"I'm busy."

 

Without even batting an eyelash, Kido flips over an omelette with more force than necessary. "Unless, of course, you're here to help."

 

Pointedly ignoring the implied demand, Kano practically flounces into the kitchen and chooses a blank spot of wall to lean against. "Busy? Even too busy to make some time for your own boyfriend?"

 

Kido just rolls her eyes and sighs, sensing that Kano wouldn't leave her alone without some sort of compensation. She crosses the room (grudgingly abandoning her spatula) and presses a kiss to Kano's forehead.

 

"There. Satisfied?" she mumbles, but Kano had already flounced off in search of his...well, what was supposed to be his designated cup.

 

Confident (perhaps overly so) that Kano wouldn't return, Kido turns her attention back on the eggs that were just on the verge of burning.

 

She's surprisingly productive for the next ten minute or so; most of the dining table is set up, and all that's remaining are a few puddles of batter that Kido swears came out of nowhere (but really, she thinks faintly, she doesn't have any right to complain).

 

Suddenly, arms wrap around Kido's waist and a familiar weight settles onto her shoulders.

 

" _ Tsubomi _ ," Kano breathes onto Kido's neck.

 

"What do you want," she grumps, although any real venom in her voice is nonexistent.

 

"Just this," he mumbles, and Kido has to smile at how soft and embarrassed the other boy sounds.

 

She supposes it wouldn't be wrong to indulge herself every once in a while, so she nestles herself into Kano's jacket and sighs.

 

"If I fall asleep and the eggs burn, it's your fault."

 

Kano barks out a laugh.

 

Thanks to the surprising warmth of Kano's slim body, Kido does start to feel drowsy, eyes drifting slowly closed…

 

...eyes that immediately snap back open when she hears light footsteps making their way towards the kitchen.

 

Panicking, Kido runs through the list of Dan members in her head. Ene? Impossible. Shintaro and Seto both slept like the dead, Konoha was much less subtle, and Kido prayed that it wouldn't be Momo - 

 

An unruly head of white hair appears in the doorway, stopping Kido's train of thought as quickly as it came.

 

"Smells good," Mary mumbles, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Kido…?"

 

She raises her bleary eyes, which widen by the second as she takes in the scene before her: Kido with her deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, Kano with a rare genuine smile on his face, Kido's alarmingly red face -

 

Mary giggles and practically skips back to the girls' shared bedroom.

 

Kido groans and buries her face in her hands.

 

"She won't tell; it's okay. Besides, it's not like we were doing anything embarrassing, right?"

 

"Not to you, maybe." Closing her eyes, Kido blindly stabs at the pan with her spatula. "Let's just pretend that never happened?"

 

"Whatever you say, dear," Kano croons, taking delight in the way that Kido flushes and pulls the jacket higher up to cover her face.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

II)

 

Kido couldn't sleep.

 

She lies in the dark, listening to Momo and Mary's soft breathing. There were three options: continue to lie awake and risk sleep deprivation in the morning, go to sleep and risk nightmares, or get up and walk around the house and risk waking up anyone else.

 

Carefully detaching herself from Mary and plucking one of Momo's stray arms off of her chest, Kido slides off of the bed and onto the cold floor. The temperature change wakes her up a little more, and Kido was just beginning to wonder if she could get away with going out for a walk when the bedroom door creaks open.

 

She blinks at the sliver of light that enters and activates her ability, checking to make sure the two younger girls were properly concealed before sitting completely still -

 

"Kido? You're here, aren't you?"

 

Exhaling in relief, Kido lets the color in her eyes fade. "Don't sneak up like that. I thought you were a thief, or worse."   
  
"Sorry, sorry, I won't scare Danchou like that again," Kano whispers in the dark, but Kido could clearly hear how his voice was on the verge of breaking.

 

"...Hey. Come here."   
  
"Huh?"

 

"Just. Get over here. And don't wake anyone else up while you're at it."

 

Kido hears the sound of something being dragged across the wooden floor, then feels hands cling onto her left arm and drag her closer to a trembling body."

 

"Nightmares again?" she mumbles, surrendering her hair to Kano's touch in hopes that working out the numerous kinks would distract him from his thoughts.

 

"Yeah," comes the soft reply. "Losing Seto. And you. The gun was...right there...and I couldn't move - "

 

"Shut up. Stop thinking. Seto and I are alive, aren't we? And you, and everyone else."

 

"Yeah, I guess - yeah. I'm here, you're here...you're  _ here _ ."

 

Kido makes a small noise of assent, setting a hand on Kano's head and smoothing his hair. "Better now?"

 

Instead of answering, Kano scoots closer. Kido can feel his heartbeat through her clothes; she watches the rise and fall of his chest as it slows down and stabilizes, and relaxes once she realizes that Kano must have fallen asleep.

 

Kido looks upwards to check on the girls, and immediately lowers her gaze again when she notices Momo's intense stare.

 

"Go back to sleep," she mumbles, grateful to the dark for hiding her flaming cheeks.

 

Momo opens her mouth and Kido mentally braces herself for the inevitable barrage of questions, but then Momo seems to think better of it and flops back onto the bed.

 

When she thinks that Momo has fallen asleep as well, Kido grabs her jacket from its resting place on the back of a chair and drapes it over both herself and Kano.

 

Then she leans back against the bed and lets sleep claim her last of all.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

III)

 

Embarrassingly enough, Konoha is the next to notice.

 

The entire group is out on a shopping trip, because Seto has work and no two people are trusted enough to both a) use money responsibly and b) not get into trouble for an extended period of time. It was Ene who had suggested that they all go together, and as no one could come up with a better idea, here they all were.

 

The only problem was, seven people with at least three different conversations going, all crammed around one shopping cart, wasn't exactly the most common sight.

 

With growing amusement, Kido watches nearby customers skirt a wide circle around their little group. For once, Kano's little antics and Mary's constant fascination don't grate on her nerves, and she honestly can't remember when they were last this relaxed.

 

"What's this? You're having fun?"

 

Two fingers pin Kido's smile in place before she can school her expression into her usual stoic one.

 

"You make that sound like a personal victory or something." Kido moves slightly to the right to let Kano squeeze in between her and the shelf of canned beans.

 

"Maybe it is." Kano does a little twirl. "You should do that more often. It looks good on you."

 

"Sh-Shut up, you don't just  _ say _ things like that."

 

Kido can feel her face start to warm up ( _ again _ , she thinks, vaguely horrified) and desperately wishes she could disappear like she usually does.

 

"Mm, but you never said that I couldn't."

 

And with his shit-eating grin securely in place, Kano turns to barge in on Shintaro and Momo's conversation like nothing had happened.

 

_ Okay,  _ Kido thinks, trying to concentrate on the group's shopping list.  _ So maybe that was a one time thing. Maybe for once Shuuya will read the situation and not do anything to blow what was left of their cover -  _

 

She has to bite back a groan when Kano blindly reaches out a hand, grasping her sleeve and making his way down until he can awkwardly tangle their fingers together. 

 

Neither of them says a word about what's happening, and the rest of the group is too busy bickering over Konoha's armful of goods to notice the two holding hands in the back. 

 

Konoha, however, does. And while his enhanced abilities are useful when they're on the defense against evil snakes, at the moment Kido finds herself cursing his perfect eyesight. 

 

He dumps the food into their cart and tilts his head in confusion. 

 

"Are you afraid of getting lost here? Normally you don't seem to have any problem navigating."

 

Kano chokes back a laugh. 

 

"U-Uh, no, we're fine. And put all those things back, we don't have enough money to cover them."

 

Undeterrred, Konoha continues the questioning, delivering "then why were you holding hands?" with a perfectly straight face. 

 

Kido briefly wonders if this is the day that she'll finally carry out all the threats she had accumulated against Kano over the years. 

 

An eerie silence falls over the group. No one even dares to look in Kido's direction (except for Konoha, ever the clueless one), resulting in rather uncomfortable staring contests among the other members of the group.

 

"Let's...okay. Why don't we all just forget that this ever happened. I'll take this cart up and pay for everything and meet you outside. Okay?"

 

Shintaro scoffs and throws Kido a disbelieving look, but he stuffs his phone into his pocket and starts heading towards the exit. 

 

A heated conversation breaks out between Mary and Hibiys, but they're dutifully dragged out the door by Momo, whoee face is twisted in an effort to ignore both sides of the argument. 

 

Which leaves Kano and Kido alone with a cart full of food wedged partly between them. 

 

"Uh...sorry about that?" Kano grins sheepishly. "I didn't know that Konoha would notice, out of all of them."

 

Kido sighs. "You're fine, I should have expected that. Guess it doesn't matter much now, though."

 

Kano's eyes briefly flash red; he catches Kido's glare and immediately stops, but the few seconds before he recomposes his expression is enough for Kido to catch a hint of sadness and guilt. 

 

"...I told you, didn't I. You're fine, so stop worrying about something that everyone else will probably forget about in a week or two."

 

Kano still doesn't look particularly convinced, so Kido takes a deep breath, let's go of any last reservations, and grabs Kano's hand in her own. 

 

"Wha - " is the only sound that Kano seems capable of making as his face turns a shade of red that rivals...anything, really, that Kido's ever seen. She takes a moment to revel in the fact that she had been the one to surprise Kano for once before tugging his arm towards one of the checkout lanes. 

 

"Come on, we still need to get going."

 

Kano splutters and slides his mask back into place, and this time Kido doesn't stop him as they rush towards one of the shorter lines.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

IV)

 

Thankfully, Kido's prediction comes true and she and Kano stop receiving strange looks after about a week has passed.

 

But the looks give way to subtle teasing, and Kido has a hard time deciding which is worse. She's currently on the run from Ene, hiding out on the room of their apartment, when Seto finds her and immediately takes a seat next to her.

 

"Not a  _ word _ ," Kido hisses, although the effect is diminished by a yawn that cuts her off mid-word.

 

Seto only blinks back at her innocently. "C'mon, I'm not that bad, am I?"

 

That earns him a glare of his own, because Kido already  _ knows _ how much of a tease Seto can be when he wants to.

 

"Okay, okay, I get the point. But I felt like you should know that the others already know about you and Kano."

 

"Do they," Kido deadpans. "I'd be surprised if they didn't know by now, to be honest."

 

"No, no! Don't hurt Kano too much, he didn't do as much as you think that he did. I mean even before yesterday. You two aren't as subtle as you think you are."

 

Kido doesn't answer, choosing instead to bury her face in her hands.

 

"Aw, it isn't that bad. I think. Look on the bright side! You don't have to hide anymore if you don't want to.J"

 

"I really don't think that's the problem, but...thanks anyway, Seto."

 

Seto beams, shifting positions so he can lean against the wall. "No problem! Oh, by the way, it should be safe to go down now. I saw Shintaro arguing with someone as he went out. Ene should be gone."

 

Kido nods and turns to leave, then hesitates. "This is a dumb question, I know, but how did you figure it out?"

 

"I've lived with you guys for years, c'mon. I would say I know you better than you know yourselves, but I'm not exactly sure that would apply to Kano."

 

Snorting, Kido raises a hand in farewell and descends the steps back into the building.

 

Seto waves after her cheerily, then collapses against the wall as soon as Kido's footsteps disappear.

 

"You heard all that, right?" he asks, pulling out his phone.

 

Ene appears in a burst of pixels on the screen, smiling widely. "Yup, all of it! They really do love each other, it's disgusting."

 

"Don't be mean, Ene. You never hear us talking about you and Konoha, do you?"

 

"Me and…? H-Hey, now, there's nothing going on between me and Konoha!"

 

Seto doesn't answer, choosing instead to smile into the camera until Ene's entire body turns red and she flies from the screen in a huff.

 

"I guess that takes care of that," Seto mumbles, putting his phone away and turning to follow Kido's footsteps, a slight smile on his face.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

IV)

 

The sun was setting, throwing pink, orange, and red rectangles of light across the walls of apartment 107. The apartment itself is uncharacteristically quiet, and Kido Tsubomi sits on the ground facing away from the window.

 

Light footsteps approach, and Kido doesn't even bother to look up. "Evening!" a too bright voice chimes, and Kano moves into her field of vision and settles on the ground next to her crosslegged.

 

Kido hums once in response, continuing to stare at the wall.

 

"You okay? You aren't talking much today."

 

"I don't talk much normally, either. I should be worried about you; you never show this much concern."

 

"Maybe I should," Kano murmurs, almost too soft for Kido to hear.

 

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, watching the light dim and listening to a clock somewhere in the room continue ticking.

 

"It's too quiet," Kido blurts out, drawing her knees closer to her chest. "I - Seto and Mary still live here, and everyone else promised to visit, but it's not the  _ same _ ."

 

And there it was, Kano muses. There was the insecurity and loneliness that Kano had felt clinging to Kido for the past few days. Ever since Takane and Haruka had left for college and their worried-sick families, Shintaro and Momo had gone home, and Hibiya had stomped out in a show of unconvincing annoyance, muttering "I won't leave you old geezers to rot alone, jeez."

 

"Lonely?" Kano can't help teasing. "Does Danchou miss having people to take care of?"

 

"There we go. That's the Kano I know."

 

"...But I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so you can take care of me, yeah?"

 

"Doesn't mean that I'll let you freeload off of me for the rest of your life, idiot."

 

But Kido closes her eyes and leans against Kano's shoulder, whispering "thanks, anyway" into the fabric of his jacket. Kano hums tonelessly, listening to Kido's breathing even out and matching his rhythm to hers.

 

His last conscious thought is that he really should get something to cover both of them.

 

(But when Seto comes home, he can't help smiling at the sight of his two best friends draped over each other snoring gently, and tucks them in with a blanket pilfered from the couch before tiptoeing to his room to tell Takane immediately.)


End file.
